Brake-operating mechanism



May 5, 1925.

A. F. KLASING BRAKE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 1, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 5, 1925.

1,536,797 A. F. KLASING BRAKE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 1, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet z /& Q

Patented May 5, 192

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Aoeusrus xLAsINe,'or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE KLAsING CAB BRAKE ComrANY, A CORPORATION OF COLORADO.

BRAKE-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Application filed February 1, 1922. Serial No. 533,269.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS F. KLAS- ING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State is of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake-Operating Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to apparatus for i manipulating the brakes ofa railway car,

the invention being particularly concerned with a type of brake operating mechanism in which power is applied to the brake shoes by raising a rack by successive rotative movements of a pinion (operated preferably by a hand lever) which pinio'n is mounted so that at the end of each power stroke of the apparatus the pinion may rise bodily to free itself from the teeth of the rack and then re;- turn to its operative position in readiness for another stroke.

The object of the invention is to improve upon an apparatus of this type by providing a simple modification of the form of pinion whereby wear upon and mutilation ofthe pinion and rack teeth are prevented, the danger of the pinion being cramped is obviated, friction between the pinion and rack is diminished, the possible length of the power strokes of the operating lever increased and the force developed at the beginning of the power stroke enhanced; this last.

feature being one of importance because with'the type of brake settlng mechanism 1n contemplatlon the rack must be given a slight upward or forward movement against the force exerted to press the brake shoes against the wheels of the cars when the brakes are to be released. To accomplish this slight upward orreleasing movement of the rack' considerable power is required since the force with which the shoes are pressed against the wheels may amount to several thousand pounds.

The invention 15 lllustrated, in certain pre' ferred; embodiments, in the accompanying drawings wherein- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary end elevation of a railway car, with the brake setting mechanism of my invention installed thereon, this view being taken at an angle to the plane of the end ofthe car inasmuch as the brake mechanism is shown as arranged on thecar wall obliquely. f

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan taken line 22 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on line. I

33 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the upper end of the rack and its operat ing pinion.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates the end wall of a railway car. 11 is a chain at tached to and forming part of the brake rigging (not shown) on the under side of the car, the brake shoesbeing pressed against the car wheels by an outward pull on chain 11. 12 is a rocking element pivoted in a bracket 13 on the end of the car and provided with a rounded surface 14; which takes up the chain when member 12 is rocked. 15 is a pull rod vertically arranged on the end of the car and Connected at the bottom by clevis 16 with-the rocking member 12 and at the top attached to a rack bar 17 the parts of the apparatus as above described form no part of my present invention which is concerned with the mechanism, now to be described, for raisingithe rack bar 17.

The rack bar 17 extends into and through a housing 18 which is preferably arranged obliquely on the car wall as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Mounted in the housing is a mutilated pinion 19, the term mutilated being used in the sense that the pinion is provided with teeth on only a portion of its periphery, The pinion is fixed to an approximately squared stud 20 formed on an operating handle 21. 22 is a journal formed on th end "of stud 20 and adapted to extend into an elongated recess 23 formed on the inner wall of the housing, the lower surface 24 of the recess being semircircula-rto provide a bearing for journal 22. Betweenftlie squared The rack bar 17 is formed on the rear sidewith two sets of holding teeth 29 adapted to I the hous'in other be engagedby the upper end of a detent 30 contained within a recess 31 in the back of 18 and having a rocking movement on the studs 32 interiorly projecting from the walls of the housing. The tail 33 of detent 30 is engaged by one end or the other of a tripping device 34 pivoted between webs 35 projecting rearwardly from the housing. Oneend of thetripping device 34 consists of a cylindrical body 36' of considerable weight which, in one position of the tripping device, holds the other end 37 .of said device against the under surface of the tail 33 of the detent so as to keep the detent in engagement with rack 17. In the position of the tripping device the weight 36 bears against the top of tail 33. of the detent holding said detent out of engagement with the rack.

The pinion 19 is formed with several teeth of uniform length and a single shorter tooth.

With the handle 21 hanging downwardly in its inoperative position the short tooth 38 is the nearest to the rack so that when the handle is raised this tooth will be the first to engage the rack teeth. It is preferably made of such length that it just clears the second tooth 39 of the rack and is then brought to bear againstthe upper tooth -10 thereof. The pinion 19 may be provided with any suitable'number of long teeth 41. I have shown three of these longer teeth. The slot :26 is normally covered by a cover plate 42 on the hand lever 21.

Operation: The brakes are set by giving one or more oscillations-upward lifting movements, tothe left (Fig. 1)to lever 21. The engagement of the pinion 19 with the rack raises the rack step by step-until the brakes areset. The detent 30 holds the rack in the successive elevated positions. At the end of each power stroke the handle is allowed to drop and this causes the pinion to climb up the rack until its teeth are free from the rack teeth, whereupon the pinion and lever drop to their normal position ready for another power stroke. To release the brakes trip device 34 is reversed from the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, so that weight 36 bears against the upper 'side of the tail piece 33. The lever is then raised so as to relieve the downward pull of rack 17 on the detent. whereupon the detent is rocked backwardly away from the rack so that the latter will drop as soon as released by the pinion on the hand lever.

Several ,adi'antages result from making the first tooth 38 on the pinion shorter than the other teeth. Vith the first tooth as long as the others the enga ement between this tooth and the rack tooth against which it is brought to. ,bear will necessarily take place near the ends of said teeth and-the rack tooth must be placed quite a little below the center of rotation of the pinion. These con-' ditions (which exist because the relative positions, initial] of the rack and pinion teeth must be such that the first tooth'on the inion will clear the'tooth on the rack below the tooth which the'pinion tooth must enga e) result in wear and mutilation of the fi rs pair of teeth thus engaged due to the fact that withthe rotation of the pinion the first tooth has to be crowded inwardly under the rack tooth which it engages, and, because of the position of the rack tooth below the center of rotation of the pinion, there exists a lateral component of .considerable moment.

1n the force applied by the pinion tooth against the'rack tooth. In other words, the friction between the engaged teeth is comparatively great and the force is exerted, to a large extent, laterally as well as in the upward or lifting direction. Consequently this pair of teeth are -likely to become worn, crushed or even broken. When worn or otherwise mutilated the pinion locks or is crowded against the rack so that it cannot be moved further. Even if the wear does not take' place to an extent to make the apparatus thus inoperative, the character of the engagement between the first tooth on the pinion and the tooth on the rack against which it is brought to bear and the relative positions of the teeth when this engagement first takes place lessen the power applicable to the brake mechanism on an initial movement of the lever. This is not so important in taking up slack-on the brake rigging but it is of very considerable importance whenthe brakenian makes the final lift on the lever to set the brakes, and it is even more important when, to release the brakes, the rack has to be lifted against the whole reactive force of the mechanism, which may be set so as to exert several thousand pounds pressure between the shoes and wheels.

By formin the pinion so that the first tooth engage by the rack is shorter than the other teeth, the first tooth on the rack may be so placed (assuming that the rack is in its lowermost position) that'the lateral component' of the force exerted by the pinion against the rack is minimized and the crowding of the pinion tooth against the rack tooth to all intents and purposes is practically eliminated. Moreover, the olnt of engagement of the pinion tooth wit the rack tooth, when this engagement first takes place, is closer .to the center of rotation of the pinion which gives additional power to the apparatus. That, as has been stated, is of great importance in accomplishing the final set ting of the shoes against the wheels and in lifting the rack incident to release of the brakes. Moreover in releasing the brakes the disengagement of the pinion from the railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a rack, and a mutilated pinion normally out of engagement with the rack but mounted to engage and move the rack when oscillated in one direction, the first tooth of the pinion to engage the rack during its working stroke beingshortened so that it will just clear the first rack tooth that would otherwise be engaged but will engage the next succeeding tooth'at a favorable working angle, and will remain in operative engagement therewith until after the next pair of engaging teeth are in working engagement at substantially the first engaging position of the first two teeth.

2. In combination with the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a rack, and a mutilated pinion normally out of engagement with the rack but mounted to engage and. move the rack when oscillated in one direction, the first tooth of the pinion to engage the rack during its .working stroke being shortened so that it will just clear the first rack tooth that would otherwise be engaged but will engage the next succeeding tooth at a favorable working angle, and will remain in operative engagement therewith until after the next pair of enga ing teeth are in working engagement at su stantially the.

first engaging position of the first-two teeth, and means cooperating with the rack to hold same in the positions to which it is moved by the pinon, so that one of the rack teeth will always be in proper position for the initial engagement with the thortened pinion.

3. In combination with the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a rack, a mutilated pinion for imparting longitudinal movement to the rack, one of the teeth of one of said last mentionedtwo elements being shorter than the other teeth on said element, and means for mounting said pinion so that it may rotate and have movement bodily in parallelism with the rack, for the purpose described.

4:. In combination w1th the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipu atin saidbrakes comprising a rack, a mutilate pinion for imparting" longitudinal move-- ment to the rac one of the teeth of one of said last mentioned two elements being shorter than the other teeth on said element, means for mounting said pinion sothat it may rotate and have movement bodily in parallelism with the rack, and a lever rigid with said pinion for rotating the same.

5 In combination with the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipulating,

said brakes comprising a rack, a mutilated pinion forimparting longitudinal movement to the rack, one of the teeth of said pinion being shorter than the other teeth thereof,

and means for mounting said pinion so that it may rotate and have movement bodily in parallelism with the rack.

6. In combination with the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a rack, a mutilate pinion for imparting longitudinal movement to the rack, one of the teeth of said pinion being shorter than the other teeth thereof, means for mounting said pinion so that it may rotate and have movement bodily in parallelism with the rack, and a lever rigid with said pinion for operating the same.

7. In combination with the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a rack, and a mutilated pinion for imparting longitudinal movement to the rack when rotated in one direction. and mounted to move idly on the rack and become disengaged therefrom when rotated in the'opposite direction, the tooth first to come in contact with the rack in setting the brakes being shorter than the other teeth of the pinion so as to reduce the angle of its initial engagement with a tooth of the rack.

8. In combination with the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a rack and a mutilated pinion for imparting longitudinal movement to the mack, the tooth on the pinion first to come into contact with the rack in setting the brakes being shorter than the other teeth of the pinion, and means for 9. In combination with the brakes of a I railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising-a rack and a muti-- lated pinion for imparting longitudinal movement tothe rack, t e tooth on the pinion first to come into contact with the rack in setting the brakes being shorter than thelother teeth of the pinion, means for mounting said pinion so that it may rotate and have rotating the same.

railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a rack mutilated pinion for imparting longitudinal movement to the rack, the uppermost tooth of said rack when the latter is in normal position being below the axis of rotation of said pinion, the tooth first to come into contact with the rack in setting the brakes being shorter than the other teeth of the -movement bodily in parallelism with the v rack, and a lever 'rigid with said pinion for 10. In combination with the brakesfof 1 2 having teeth of substantially uniform depth and a pinion so as to reduce the angle of its initial engagement with a tooth of said rack, and a releasable detent for holding the rack in its extended positions.

11. In combination with the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a rack and a mutilated pinion for imparting longitudinal movement to the rack, the tooth on the pinion first to come into contact with the rack in setting the brakes being shorter than the other teeth of the pinion, means for mounting said pinion so that it may rotate and have movement bodily in parallelism with the rack, and a releasible detent for holding the rack in its extended positions.

12. In combination with the brakes of a railway car, mechanism for manipulating said brakes comprising a'rack and a mutilated pinion for imparting longitudinal movement to the rack, the toothon the pinion first to come into contact with the rack in setting the brakes being shorter than the I other teeth of the pinion, means for mounting said pinion so that it may rotate and have movement bodil in parallelism with the rack, a lever rigid with said inion for rotating the same, and a releasa le' detent for holding the rack in its extended positions. 1

13. In apparatus for -manipulating the brakes of a railway car, the combination of a housing on the end wall of the car, a rack extending substantially vertically through said housing, formed with lifting teeth on one side thereof and holding teeth on the opposite side, a releasable detent for engaging said holding teeth, .a multiiated pinion mounted for rotation in said'housing and movable upwardly in parallelism with the rack, and a lever rigid with said pinion, the first tooth of the pinion to come into contact with the rack, on setting of the brakes, being shorter than the other pinion teeth.

14. In apparatus for manipulating the brakes of a railway car, the combination of a housingon the endwall of the car, a rack extending substantially vertically through said housing formed with lifting teeth on one side thereof and holding teeth on the opposite side, a releasable detent for engaging said holding teeth, a mutilated pinion formed with journals at opposite ends, a vertically extending recess on the inner wall of the housing for one of said journals, a vertical slotin the outer wall of the housing for the other journal, the surfaces at the bottom of said recesses and slot being semi-cylindrical and the slot being formed with an enlargement at the top with said pinion, substantially as described.

AUGUSTUS F. KLASING.

and the hand lever rigid 

